Jester's Tale

The exceptional qualities of Karel Zeman’s motion pictures were not only achieved thanks to the support of artistic and technical concepts provided by the director’s film crew, the contributing screenwriters were also essential to his output. It was Pavel Juráček who, along with Zeman, penned the screenplay for the anti-war tragicomedy Bláznova kronika (A Jester’s Tale) made in 1964. Juráček left an indelible mark on Czechoslovak filmmaking of the 1960s. In the making of A Jester’s Tale, a film that marries a historical theme with timeless absurdity, Juráček firmly linked Zeman’s work with the Czechoslovak New Wave. The trio of main protagonists – young villager Petr (Petr Kostka), recruiting officer Matěj (Miloslav Holub) and their female friend Lenka (Emília Vášáryová) – try hard to keep their lives, freedoms and cheerfulness amid the horrors of the Thirty Years’ War. This highly acclaimed film is another demonstration of the ability of Karel Zeman and his team to both charmingly and ingeniously combine live action with animation.